iMac or PC

I am due for a new computer. I was looking for a refurbished iMac 27" and also for a PC with similar specs. and 27" Samsung monitor. The price difference is quite substantial. Since most plugins and programs I have (exept for "Aperture") are available in PC. Should I stick with iMac (cost almost double the price) or cross the floor to PC? I know there are pros and cons for everything. Thanks for the input.

Well I don't think the Apple computers are worth the price - especially not the super integrated iMac. But then you have to factor in software costs for your photo stuff if that's applicable.

What PC are you considering? I just had to decide whether or not to do an expensive repair on my iMac or start shopping for a new computer. I went with the repair because it was the most affordable option. It's still a decision I will have to face in a couple of years since I like to replace my machine about every 5 years or so.

As far as user experience goes, I couldn't go back to pc. Mac OS is just far too nice to use, trackpad gestures etc etc are a BIG loss for PC. you do pay a premium and in my mind it's worth it, not everybody feels that way though

Hmm... been sitting on an iMac 27" since early 2011 and it's been great. I've managed to crash it only twice because I tried to delete corrupt files (my bad), but other than that I just can't get the thing to lock up or not do something, so its definitely been stable as a workstation.

Screen is really, really good, even out of the box; I mean reference-grade stuff. Lack of upgrades seemed like a downer at first, but looking back, technology went by so fast that I always ended up buying new computers every 5-8 years or so, since the entire mobo/cpu/ram architecture would change by then. Extra data I handle with external storage which makes sense in my particular case, because I can physically move data around that I need to do often, and an extra TB or two is just a couple hundred bucks.

Since I actually use my computer for real work, price wasn't much of a consideration, as it's payed itself back many times now by not crashing.

YMMV.

Mark-B wrote in post #14378465
What PC are you considering? I just had to decide whether or not to do an expensive repair on my iMac or start shopping for a new computer. I went with the repair because it was the most affordable option. It's still a decision I will have to face in a couple of years since I like to replace my machine about every 5 years or so.

Desk top I am considering is Dell XPS 8500

Get what you prefer. But get a big screen! After I got the 27" (imac) I can't move to a smaller screen.
And get lots of RAM. Preferable an SSD for fast startup and a bigger disk for storage.

ArcticShooter wrote in post #14378948
Get what you prefer. But get a big screen! After I got the 27" (imac) I can't move to a smaller screen.
And get lots of RAM. Preferable an SSD for fast startup and a bigger disk for storage.

After-market RAM, preferably; 8GB should be enough even for HD video editing though.
Even without SSD, the iMac isn't exactly a slouch at starting up and will boot faster with each consecutive restart the first few times as it builds the cache, by the fourth boot my Mac went from 4 minutes to under 30 seconds. There is little reason to turn the computer off, though, and less reason to keep apps closed, so the fast boot/load times get diminishing as you're actually using it, rather than see how fast you actually can load stuff.
And yeah - the screen, after working on something like it long enough, everything else seems archaic. It even puts out enough light to use it as an ambient light source.

did you build it as closely as possibly. While Macs are a premium, I dont think i've seen a premium that high that its twice the cost of a PC. I say that because a Samsung IPS 27in display is $600USD already. Also if you factor in all the little things that apple includes, the bill starts rising too. Such as webcam, wireless keyboard, wireless mice, thunderbolt, alu housing, glass display, etc. while those might be trival in terms of performance, you are paying for them.

I would factor in the switching cost of the software. even if the mac is twice as much, replacing software adds up. but if you want cheaper performance, go for the pc

I love my 27" iMac. Less cables, less space....

Of course I run Windows 7 on it

I'll get lunched for this...... Get a pc.

Macs look lovely, and are quite nice to use. But bang for buck, and also speed and upgradability, a pc is a much better bet.

Lightroom and photoshop is indistinguishable on both platforms.

I built my own PC for more then 50% less then a comparable Mac, and I Dual boot Lion and WIndows 7 on it. My custom build uses newer parts and is 4.5GHz.

I like PCs because I like choice. I can build my own desktop or choose from dozens of laptops of all shapes and sizes. Apple also has a knack for turning a minor hardware upgrade into major surgery. No thanks.

I switched to iMac in January of 2011 and I don’t regret a bit. If you have the money, go for it. It’s all about price for most people. But if you’re comparing same performance of each, Apple products are built much better and have the best quality stuff.

Mac or PC.... I would say PC. Macs are just overpriced machines-status gadget really- you pay too much for the look rather than performance. you can get a pimped out PC for a the price of a basic Mac.
Apple has done great job making people feel/look "uncool" if they don't own their gadgets.....with Unix based OS, apple made people thing they are running the strongest OS around, and the most user friendly OS out there... with 1gb of updates each months....No thanks
honestly, I use both because of my day job ( Test Dev in software company), and I would say I find a good built PCs work just great for lower price...
I hope my 2 cents will.... I try to stay away from the geeky talk as much as I can, but I just can't get enough...Cheers~